About
Explore
Plan Your Stay
There is a single tarred road linking Mbala and Mpulungu with the rest of the world. The road reaches a T-junction near Mbala with the right branch leading to Mbala and the left to Mpulungu. The road ends in Mpulungu at the Harbour. In Mbala the road continues out the other side as a dirt road leading to a minor Tanzanian border post. The distance between Mbala and Mpulungu is 40 km, and it is about the same distance to Kasesha on the border. 15 Km south of the junction is a roundabout with a good branch road leading to Nakonde, 250 Km away, the principal border crossing to and from Tanzania. 210 km south of the Mpulungu-Mbala junction is Kasama, the provincial town of Northern Province.
In Kasama the only set of traffic lights allows you to turn left for Lusaka, or right for Nsumbu, Mansa and other destinations, or straight on for the town suburbs. For Nsumbu turn right at the traffic lights and then right again outside the town for Mporokoso. Straight through Mporokoso takes you to Nsama and Nsumbu. by road from Mpulungu Nsumbu is 450 Km. By water 80 Km. In the near future there is likely to be a good quality gravel road linking Mbala and Nsumbu. There are unpaved country roads as well, available to 4 wheel drive vehicles.
The roads lead to Sumbuwanga, Tanzania (100Km) in the North, Nakonde on the Tanzanian border (250Km) to the East and Kasama (200 Km) to the south. A road is planned to link Mbala with Nsumbu.
Several coaches daily come to Mbala and Mpulungu from the Copperbelt and Lusaka. They pass through Kasama at around 16.00-18.00hrs. The journey is about 1000 Km and takes 18-20 hours. All buses leave at 03:00 in the morning.
There is a daily bus service between Mpulungu and Nakonde, leaving Mpulungu at 04 00hrs and returning in the afternoon.
There is no public connection between Mpulungu/ Mbala and Sumbuwanga. Minibuses go to and from Kasama several times per day.
There are daily buses from Dar es Salaam. Change at Nakonde.
Licenced to carry 18 passengers and the kitchen sink, ply betweem, Mpulungu, Mbala, Kasama and Nakonde all day long every day. They can be stopped and boarded wherever you find them.
Taxis are plentiful. Prices are generally known, but a certain amount of negotiation is expected
If you are coming by plane, Mbala has a functional airport with regular flights to and from Lusaka and the Copperbelt, and possibly in the future from Livingstone., and Kasaba Bay Hotel is building its own airstrip.
There is a private air strip at Nkamba Bay near Nsumbu, for small planes, and another at Rosa, Nondo, a little south of the map. An airport at Kasama is currently being reconstructed. Tanzania has an airport at Mbeya, about 60 Km from Tunduma. Charter flights from Lusaka are easily arranged.
Cargo Boats which can also carry passengers, go from Mpulungu to Bujumbura, Burundi (725Km) and Kalemie, Congo (700 Km) at the North of the lake. The journey time is about two days. The famous SS Liemba, the oldest operating passenger ship in the world, has recently stopped operating, possibly permanently.
The Tazara railway which runs from Dar es Salaam to Kapiri Mposhi (near Lusaka), still functions as far as Tunduma (Nakonde) on the Tanzania Zambia border. There is a railway station at Kasama, but currently the Zambian trains don’t run.